Summer
by tammy-loves-jerome
Summary: Jerome is kind of really really glad that Fabian missed his train home.


Summer. Everyone packing away their things, saying teary goodbyes, exchanging email addresses. The whole ordeal makes Jerome sick. And, okay, it might have the tiniest thing to do with the fact that Jerome has to stay in this wretched school all summer. And it also might have to do with the fact that he's had to stay here over the summer since he was fourteen years old. But it's mostly just because he really hates it when Amber starts sobbing and flinging herself on everyone and crying girls in general just make him really uncomfortable.

Jerome watches the chaos unfold from where he is sitting comfortably on the couch, a place where he will probably just stay until school picks up again. It's not like there's anything better to do around here.

"Damn!"

Everyone's heads turn to the direction of the noise. Fabian is standing in the middle of the hallway glaring at his phone.

"I missed my train," he clarifies, his face turning a bit red when he sees a house full of shocked faces staring at him. "It only goes all the way out to where I live once a week."

"That's what happens when you live in the middle of nowhere, Fabian," Patricia laughs a little bit cruelly. Fabian shoots her a dirty look.

"Can't your parents come get you?" Amber asks, sounding concerned.

Fabian sighs. "No, they're in Greece and aren't coming back until next week. That's why I was supposed to catch the train in the first place."

"Well, lovey," says Trudy, "you're more than welcome to stay here for another week. You can keep Jerome company!"

Jerome snorts. "Welcome to the club, Stutter Rutter," he sneers and gets up from the couch and heads in the direction of the kitchen. He grabs an apple and takes a large bite out of it. "I'll be in my room if you need advice on how to cope with the boredom."

Fabian groans and sets his suitcase down in the hall. "Thanks, Trudy," he says sadly. He drags himself back to his room while the other kids shoot him sympathetic glances before leaving the house.

* * *

Fabian pauses outside of Jerome's room. The door is closed, but Jerome did say that he could come talk to him. Unless he was being sarcastic. Fabian can never actually tell the difference between when Jerome is actually being nice or just cynical. Fabian knocks gently on the door and then lets himself into the room.

Jerome is lying on his bed and throwing a basketball in the air so that it hits the ceiling with a dull thud and then lands back into his hands, where he repeats the process. Fabian cringes as the ball hurtles towards Jerome's face, but he always catches it.

"What do you want?" Jerome asks without looking away from his little game.

Fabian gulps. "Uh, n-n-nothing," he rushes out. He can't place his finger on it, but for some reason, Jerome makes him incredibly nervous. He curses himself silently for sounding like such an idiot.

Jerome turns his attention to Fabian, and quirks an eyebrow quizzically. "What's the matter, Rutter?" he asks, and Fabian can feel the blood rushing to his cheeks. "Cat got your tongue?"

"Want to go for a walk?" Fabian blurts out, and then mentally slaps himself. Why on earth would he want to spend quality time with the biggest asshole in the house?

Jerome laughs, but for once in his life, doesn't make a rude comment. Instead, he stands up, shrugs on his sweater, and leaves the room. "Well, aren't you coming? Or did you change your mind?" he asks, turning around to look at Fabian who is frozen in the middle of Jerome's room.

"Oh, right!" he exclaims and then darts out after Jerome who is staring at him bemusedly.

They walk in silence for about ten minutes. It should be awkward, but for some reason, it isn't. They come to a large oak tree and glance at each other before sitting down under it. Jerome folds his hands behind his head and closes his eyes. He sighs contentedly. It's a beautiful day out – warm but with a cool breeze.

Fabian allows himself to look over at Jerome. He looks happy, and Fabian finds himself smiling. Jerome cracks open one of his eyes and notices Fabian looking at him.

"Quit staring, Fabes," he says, but there's none of the usual snark in his tone. He closes his eyes again.

Fabian grins to himself at the nickname. He hasn't been called that by Jerome in years. It's always nice when Jerome is in a good mood, even though it's been a while. They used to be friends a long time ago – before Alfie or Mick came to Anubis.

"Why don't you go home during the summer anymore?" Fabian asks suddenly.

Jerome opens his eyes and props himself up against the trunk of the tree. He narrows his eyes at Fabian, his good mood vanishing. "Why?" he asks, his tone full of suspicion. "It's none of your business."

"You come from a wealthy, well to do family and you live in a big house in a nice town. What reason could you possibly have to stay here?" Fabian questions boldly. He normally wouldn't dare speak to Jerome like this, but for some reason, he is now.

Jerome glances down at his feet. "Thdntwntme," he mumbles.

"Sorry?" Fabian says and cups his hand around his ear. "I didn't hear what you said."

"THEY DON'T WANT ME!" Jerome shouts, frightening a flock of birds nearby. "Sorry."

Fabian sighs and looks at his former friend. He looks sad. "Why?"

Jerome laughs, and the cruelty is back. "None of your fucking business, Fabian," he replies icily and stands up. He smooths out his sweater. "I'm going back to the house."

"No!" Fabian exclaims and darts forward to grab Jerome's wrist. Jerome glances down at where Fabian has grabbed his hand. Fabian blushes and drops his grip, as if burned. "I just – tell me. Please," he adds.

"There was an incident, and now I'm not welcome. End of story," Jerome says. Fabian gives him a _you-know-that-you-can't-pull-that-bullshit-on-me_ look.

Fabian pulls Jerome back to sitting down under the tree. He's surprised that Jerome is even letting himself be bossed around, but Fabian has a feeling that deep down, Jerome wants to let everything out.

"I can't believe that I'm about to tell _you _this, out of all people. Not even Alfie knows," Jerome says, just to emphasize the gravity of what he's about to do. Fabian rolls his eyes. Jerome always had a flair for the dramatic.

"Well, um, you see," Jerome starts, and laughs nervously, "when I was like, fourteen years old I think, I went home for the summer. I um, I live in a really small town, and everyone talks, you know? Like, everyone knows each other. It used to be nice, but it also kind of sucks because when something bad happens, everyone knows about it." Fabian nods, and Jerome takes it as a cue to continue the story. "Anyway, I was in town one day, and I wanted to get a cup of coffee. Don't give me that look, fourteen year olds can drink coffee," he says when he sees the look on Fabian's face. "So the guy that gives me my coffee, I recognize him. Turns out that he was the older brother of one of Poppy's friends and had been away at college for the past year. He looked familiar because our families were friends, but he looked totally different from the last time that I has seen him. Long story short, we got to talking, and he asked if I wanted to go to a party that his friend was throwing. I don't think that he realized how young I was, because I've always been tall for my age."

Fabian nods. Jerome towers over him, and he is of average height.

"Basically, I get there, and I get hammered. A party with a whole bunch of rich kids means a party with the alcohol of a whole bunch of rich kids' parents. Well, one thing led to another, and…" Jerome trails off, unsure of whether to continue or not. Fabian nods encouragingly, and Jerome takes a deep breath. "Imayhavesortofkindofpossibly madeoutwiththecoffeeshopguy," he rushes out and squeezes his eyes shut, as if trying to block out the memory.

"You're GAY?!" Fabian all but screeches. Jerome's eyes open wide and he pounces on Fabian, knocking him over onto his back and slaps a hand over his mouth.

"Shhh!" he exclaims, horrified. "Nobody can know!"

Fabian glances up at Jerome who is essentially sitting on his chest, one knee on either side of his body. Jerome flushes red when he realized the compromising position that he's in, and scrambles up, offering Fabian a hand and helping him to his feet.

"Basically," Jerome says, continuing his story, "we started secretly seeing each other. Someone saw us, and told everyone. By the time the gossip reached my parents, everyone already knew. My town and family don't look very fondly upon 'homos like me'," he spits angrily, using air quotes around the words.

"I, um, I'm really sorry that that happened to you, Jerome," Fabian says softly, and gently touches Jerome's shoulder. The touch seems to snap Jerome out of whatever sort of trance he has been in.

"Yeah, well now you know," he says, and starts speed walking back to the house. Fabian doesn't hurry to catch up.

* * *

Fabian approaches Jerome where he is sitting on the couch reading a book, and takes a deep breath. "Okay, so I was thinking," he starts, and Jerome puts his book down, suddenly intrigued. "And, well, you might be stuck here for the whole summer, but I'm only here for five more days."

Jerome scowls. "Are you here to rub it in, or what?" he asks, irritated. This conversation is turning out to be a bust.

"No, let me finish," Fabian says, a hint of pleading in his tone. "I, well, okay, stand up," he says, and hauls Jerome to his feet before he can protest. "Okay, I know that it was hard for you to tell me what happened to you, and I appreciate that, and I know that just because you're gay doesn't mean that you want to go around snogging every guy in the world, but I-"

"Where are you going with this?" Jerome interrupts a bit rudely.

Fabian wipes his sweating palms on his jeans. "I, um, okay well basically, I, um…I'm going to kiss you now," Fabian concludes, and before Jerome even has time to register what's going on, Fabian's lips are on his, soft and hesitant.

Jerome chuckles against Fabians mouth, breaking the kiss. He holds Fabian by both shoulders and says, "You don't have to."

Fabian blushes bright red, and ducks his head. "I want to," he replies shyly, and smiles at Jerome.

Jerome grins, a real, genuine smile. It lights up his whole face. Fabian thinks that he looks gorgeous. Jerome wraps his arms around Fabian's neck, and their lips meet once again. "This is going to sound mean, but I'm glad that you missed your train," Jerome whispers.

Fabian rests his head on Jerome's shoulder, glad to finally have him back. "Me too."

* * *

**Yayyyyy I have finally written a story that is over 1,000 words (actually, over 2,000 if you count this note)! Shh, that's a lot for me. Thanks for reading, please leave feedback and constructive criticism or just a nice review if you want. :)**


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